Overview
Skills
Job Details
Job Title: Kafka Architect
Job Location: Bethesda, MD
Job Type: Contract
Job Description:
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Lead the architecture, design, and deployment of Apache Kafka-based platforms.
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Define best practices and standards for Kafka implementation, integration, and security across the organization.
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Collaborate with business stakeholders, solution architects, and engineering teams to translate business requirements into scalable and resilient Kafka architectures.
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Oversee the setup, configuration, and tuning of Kafka clusters to ensure high availability and performance.
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Develop and enforce policies for data retention, topic management, security, and disaster recovery.
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Guide migration and integration projects, including legacy system modernization and cloud adoption using Kafka.
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Mentor and train development teams on Kafka concepts, tools, and best practices.
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Monitor system health, troubleshoot complex issues, and implement proactive performance improvements.
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Stay abreast of new developments in the Kafka ecosystem and recommend adoption of relevant technologies.
Required Skills & Qualifications
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Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related field.
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14-16 years of total IT experience, including at least 5 years architecting and managing large-scale Kafka deployments.
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Expertise in Apache Kafka internals, including producers, consumers, brokers, partitions, replication, and Zookeeper.
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Strong knowledge of event-driven architecture, stream processing (Kafka Streams, ksqlDB), and real-time analytics.
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Deep experience integrating Kafka with various data sources, sinks, and enterprise systems (e.g., databases, microservices, cloud platforms).
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Hands-on experience with Kafka security (SSL, SASL, ACLs), data governance, and compliance.
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Proficiency in scripting and programming languages commonly used with Kafka (such as Java, Scala, or Python).
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Understanding of containerization and orchestration technologies (Docker, Kubernetes) as related to Kafka deployments.
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Excellent problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
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Experience leading technical teams and mentoring junior engineers.